Gov. Christie’s Comments About Vaccine ‘Choice’ Anger Some Doctors
From NJ Spotlight, February 3, 2015
When Gov. Chris Christie spoke out about when children should receive vaccines, he wasn’t speaking for the consensus of medical opinion on the issue.
Christie said yesterday that while his children were vaccinated, parents must have a “measure of choice” regarding vaccines. A spokesman later added that “there is no question” that children should be vaccinated for measles, explaining that the governor is calling for “balance” on which vaccines states mandate. That would give the state and parents some degree of choice in the manner.
Christie made the comments in the midst of a national measles epidemic, which has affected 102 people in 14 states, with a concentration among unvaccinated children in California. There have been no reported cases in New Jersey, although there have been cases in New York and Pennsylvania. Infectious-disease experts are cautioning doctors in New Jersey to look for measles symptoms.